Professor Anthony King
Having been interested in politics since I was a child, it was something of a thrill when Professor Anthony King (1934-2017) came into town a couple of years ago to give a talk at the Richmond Literary Festival. I mention this now because I was much saddened to hear of his death this week, at the age of 82.
As well as being Millennium Professor of British Government at Essex University, Professor King was one of the world’s leading psephologists (analysts and interpreters of election statistics). He was also an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a Fellow of the British Academy; a former Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life; a Member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords; and Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy. He also served as an associate at the Institute for Government, a non-partisan charity that aims to improve the effectiveness of central government in the UK.
If that weren’t enough, in his latter days he researched the changing British constitution; the British prime ministership; American politics and government; and the history of democracy.
A former Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford; Visiting Scholar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Anthony King was a frequent broadcaster and the author of countless books on the state of politics.
For many years this truly remarkable man was my psephological hero, so when he came into town in November 2014 I was delighted and engrossed by his stimulating and entertaining talk on the subject of ‘the blunders of our governments’ – of which there have been many. Here is my photograph of him.
Professor Anthony King
Having been interested in politics since I was a child, it was something of a thrill when Professor Anthony King (1934-2017) came into town a couple of years ago to give a talk at the Richmond Literary Festival. I mention this now because I was much saddened to hear of his death this week, at the age of 82.
As well as being Millennium Professor of British Government at Essex University, Professor King was one of the world’s leading psephologists (analysts and interpreters of election statistics). He was also an Honorary Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; a Fellow of the British Academy; a former Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life; a Member of the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords; and Chairman of the Royal Society of Arts Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy. He also served as an associate at the Institute for Government, a non-partisan charity that aims to improve the effectiveness of central government in the UK.
If that weren’t enough, in his latter days he researched the changing British constitution; the British prime ministership; American politics and government; and the history of democracy.
A former Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford; Visiting Scholar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; and Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, Anthony King was a frequent broadcaster and the author of countless books on the state of politics.
For many years this truly remarkable man was my psephological hero, so when he came into town in November 2014 I was delighted and engrossed by his stimulating and entertaining talk on the subject of ‘the blunders of our governments’ – of which there have been many. Here is my photograph of him.